by David Colton, USA TODAY

by David Colton, USA TODAY

For an occasional peek inside the USA TODAY newsroom, here are excerpts from Executive Editor David Colton's daily note to the staff, including internal assessments of recent work and trends:

TWEETING IT RIGHT: In this era of social media, Twitter is unbeatable for news-as-it-happens, offering a Borg-like collective stream of consciousness. But when it comes to covering breaking news events, how reporters tweet can take many forms:

-- Play-by-play. This is basically a radio approach, the facts as they happen.

-- Twitalysis. Example from USA TODAY's Robert Klemko: 'That was the longest punt return for a touchdown in NFL postseason history.'

-- Snark. Sadly, just check out the mean spirits populating #MissAmerica during Saturday's pageant. Which leads us to ....

-- Twitterati. This is where inside-the-beltway reporters (who should know better), columnists, talking heads and party officials tweet and spin the news at each other rather than their readers. It's fascinating political stuff, occasionally nasty, sometimes enlightening but ultimately no replacement for being on the phone doing, um, actual reporting.

But the best kind of tweet coverage is the kind that serves readers:

-- I'm-there-and-you're-not. That was superbly demonstrated Saturday by USA TODAY Sports reporter Lindsay Jones, who tweeted from the heart-stopping Ravens-Broncos game in Denver. She tweeted the basic play-by-play, yes, but she also tweeted how the Mile High stadium was physically shaking, and how cold she was in the sub-freezing weather.

She was there. We were not.

Most important, after Baltimore won 38-35 in double overtime, everyone on TV was endlessly chattering about Denver quarterback Peyton Manning. But Jones was in the Broncos' locker room and instead tweeted this: Rahim Moore, near tears: "it's my fault."

Jones was the first I saw who tweeted that nugget from Moore, the Denver safety who gave up the game-tying touchdown with just 31 seconds left. Without that play there would have been no overtime, no chance for Baltimore to win.

She also tweeted this perfect haiku of a news dispatch: Words I heard over and over in Broncos locker room: Devastated, disappointed, sad.

All this sounds like basic reporting, but the world of Twitter is so personal that too few reporters remember why they are there in the first place. Why? Because their readers are not.

We asked Lindsay Jones about her 'twitter policy' the next day:

'Rahim said that in the locker room,' Jones said. 'He was the first Bronco who talked. I tweeted it as soon as his scrum broke up and he took off for the shower. I'm plenty snarky in my tweets other times, but in the locker room and post-game was not time for that. Especially when everyone else seems to be so emotional â?? I try to bring some context and reason.'

News, context and reason. Great foundations for any reporter, whether writing an old-fashioned narrative or reporting the news 140 characters at a time. USA TODAY's social reporting policy is built on the same basic tenets of journalism and trust that have served our readers well for three decades. And going forward, you can follow Lindsay at @bylindsayhjones

VIDEO VILLAGE: We track our digital traffic carefully, and were happy to see 9 million video views from our readers in December, a new record for USA TODAY's website and a taste of the video future to come.

USA TODAY offers all kinds of videos. We have our share of funny animal videos, but we also offer breaking news and feature videos from our 23 broadcast stations in the Gannett Universe, along with AP, Reuters and others.

And we increasingly offer original programming such as USA NOW, a daily update on what we're covering in the USA TODAY newsroom, and Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page's Capital Download, which debuted last week with an interview with Obama adviser David Plouffe, who is leaving the administration.

Susan's TV and radio presence is already impressive, and we think Capital Download will be a newsy destination as we go forward.

OTHER GOOD STUFF: Nice to see USA TODAY's Editorial Page getting an opposing view from all four New York/New Jersey senators (Menendez, Lautenberg, Gillibrand and Schumer), to our Opinion piece questioning portions of the Sandy relief bill â?¦ Donna Freydkin had smart fun with the four stars of HBO's returning Girls series â?¦ Brent Schrotenboer has been way ahead on the Lance Armstrong doping admission story ...For a great read check out AnnOldenburg's no-detail-too-small account of the Miss America Pageant (back on network TV, from Saturday night). ... and no one had better coverage of the Oscar nominees than the Entertainment Team's Thursday morning online coverage and Friday's print analysis and reaction. (But no Avengers? Boo!)